Rosetta Genomics this week announced that it has received a patent allowance from the European Patent Office for claims related to the use of microRNA-34a for the treatment of p53-negative cancers.
The patent is jointly owned with the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, Rosetta said.
According to Rosetta, p53 is a direct transcriptional target of miR-34a and perturbation of the miRNA's expression may contribute to tumorigenesis.
"P53 is a major player in many cancers, and our new findings regarding the role of miR-34a in
exerting its effects has major therapeutic implications,” Weizmann researcher Moshe Oren said in a statement. "One can envision a therapeutic based on mimicking mir-34a in p53-negative cancers, thus overcoming part of the negative effects of missing this important tumor suppressor.”